The Cavendish Laboratory is located in the West Cambridge Site – the newer (modern!) buildings are located in this area. It is quite a distance from the City Centre, so we drove there on our car and parked at a road nearby. It wasn’t as crowded as in the previous venue, there were plenty of spaces to move around, and had arguably more interesting setups and experiments.
Here are snapshots on our second time at the Cambridge Science Festival:
March 21, 2009
West Cambridge Site
We are indeed privileged to be in Cambridge this year, just in time for its 800th Anniversary year. There are various events organized by the University throughout the whole year to mark the occasion. Additionally, there is also an annual event called the Cambridge Science Festival, which is held in March each year. The Science Festival held this month had over more than 160 events for all ages over two weeks, with the theme "Centuries of Science."
Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to expose my daughter to such events – hoping that she will get the impression that not only is science interesting stuff, but that it is also fun and engaging (and definitely not just for the geeks and nerds). I think it’s just wonderful that there are events like these where children and adults alike would get an exposure to science. There are several such events in Tsukuba, but we have yet to attend one (too lazy; Japanese language was too daunting; Aya was too young, yada yada yada). So one could aptly say that this was our first experience together. Not just us, actually, because Lola was also here to enjoy the festivities. Just imagine, my Mom, a senior citizen and who is not a science-person herself, having fun doing experiments with us! Kudos to the organizers and facilitators of the event — superbly done!
I was cooking dinner one evening, and my sweet daughter Aya was helping me in the kitchen. Out of the blue, she asked me, "Nanay, what does bitch mean?"
I was taken aback, and immediately I worried about where exactly she had heard that word. Did she hear one of her classmates or friends say it (bad, baaadd children!)? Did she hear it on TV? The Internet? Or worse, did she ever hear me say it out loud? Well, at least my conscience is clear that I have never said that word in front of her. If you’re a responsible adult, it’s only natural and expected that you filter the vocabulary you use in front of children, particularly your own. Still, despite our best efforts, it is next to impossible to shield our children from the so-called evils of the real world. It’s all part of growing up in an imperfect society. Sooner or later children will find out that both nice and nasty things are out there in various proportions.
Anyway, in between chopping vegetables and putting meat to sizzle on the wok, I tried to explain to her the meaning of the b word. I said, "Well, it has two meanings. The first one is that it refers to a female dog. The other is a nasty one, and that’s what some people call nasty people who are mean and not nice. You shouldn’t use that word because it’s a bad word."
Aya looked thoughtful, the way she always did whenever I explain a word or idea to her. Then as if she suddenly remembered something, she immediately left the kitchen.
When she came back, she showed me the Illustrated Classics for Girls book I recently bought for her, the one she has been reading by herself recently. Gingerly, she opened a page and pointed at a passage on Chapter 3 of The Wizard of Oz:
But the scarecrow had an idea. "If the tinman chops down this tree, we could use it to cross the ditch."
Oh…my…gosh! It was ditch, not bitch, you hopeless schmuck. Trying to hide my embarrassment, I quickly explained to her the meaning of the word ditch.
Lessons learned:
1. Children ask simple questions, but adults make a big deal out of them.
2. Adults just need to listen carefully to what children say (if only to avoid blunders like this one).
🙂
I’ve been thinking a lot on how I can possibly apply some of the ideas I’ve learned at the women’s forum I attended late last month. I chose two workshops to attend in that forum, one of them was on assertiveness, and the other one was on work-life balance. One of the things I learned in the workshop was that successful women who seemed to "have it all," in real life, actually have to make compromises in their lives. The "have-it-all" idea is just…an illusion.
I don’t know how I may seem to appear to other women, but I don’t think of myself as one of those successful women who seem to have it all. I’ve made compromises along the way myself. And if I were to make a chart of my life now, it would probably look like this:
That is roughly based on the number of hours I allot to my daily concerns on weekdays. Weekends are of course devoted mostly to family/home affairs, because I opt not to work on weekends.
If I were to make my "ideal" chart, it would probably look like this:
Haha, good luck with that one. I did say "ideal"; I didn’t say it was practical (right now). Still, it’s nice to think of ways on how to achieve that kind of balance. And hey, who knows? Priorities do change as you get older.
A huge chunk of my time is concentrated on work. I feel kind of guilty because my work gets the best of me, and the rest goes to my family and other stuff. I do manage to snip off a few hours per month for my so-called "Me-Time." I usually devote it to blogging, photography, and what-have-you. And I just wish I had more time to devote to things I really enjoy doing – things that do not have the word "work" tagged on them.
And yet, in spite of the fact that I devote so many hours to my work, I still feel that my efforts are not enough. How much more severe would the consequences be if I were to redistribute my hours so as to achieve a more "balanced" life? As it is, there will always be colleagues who would perform better in terms of scientific output and impact. There will always be those who can be at the laboratory virtually 24/7, and whose brain cells never stop working on their scientific problems even when they get home. There will always be colleagues who would have the luxury of time, those who don’t have to take occasional breaks from work in order to take care of their sick children. While effort doesn’t always translate to productivity, it can lead to a significant difference over time.
It makes me wonder about this. Choosing to have a family life is a purely individual choice, but does it necessarily mean that those who do will inevitably have their career trajectories severely affected? Are they doomed to mediocre careers because they just can’t devote themselves wholly to their disciplines anymore? Like it or not, when you become a parent, your priorities shift drastically. It’s just the way it is.
On the other hand, does having a career condemn you to become a less effective and caring parent to your child? Are you doomed to have your child say to you one day, "You just weren’t there for me"? Ouch.
Life becomes akin to walking on a tightrope, where a slight perturbation can cause you to dangerously keel over to the other side. Now that’s something you don’t learn in school.